56 Facts About Jeff Tweedy

Jeffrey Scot Tweedy was born on August 25,1967 and is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco.

Across his career Jeff Tweedy has released 20 studio albums, including four with Uncle Tupelo, twelve with Wilco, one with his son Spencer, a solo acoustic album, three solo studio albums, along with numerous collaborations with other musicians, most notably Mermaid Avenue with Billy Bragg.

Jeff Tweedy was born in Belleville, Illinois, on August 25,1967, the fourth child of Bob and JoAnn Jeff Tweedy.

Jeff Tweedy's mother bought him his first guitar when he was six years old, although he did not begin to play it seriously until he was twelve.

Apparently Jeff Tweedy told people that he knew how to play the guitar once he got his first guitar, even though he couldn't.

When he was twelve, Jeff Tweedy was injured in a bicycle accident and was laid up for the summer.

Jeff Tweedy decided to learn how to play a few chords before somebody "called him out" on the lie.

In 1981, when Jeff Tweedy was fourteen years old, he befriended Jay Farrar in an English class at Belleville Township High School West.

Jeff Tweedy attended Belleville Area College and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Jeff Tweedy pushed The Plebes away from the rockabilly music that they had been playing, which caused Dade Farrar to leave the band.

At his parents' request, Jeff Tweedy enrolled at several universities, but dropped out of them so that he could concentrate on Uncle Tupelo.

Around this time, Jeff Tweedy began developing problems with alcohol, leading to tensions between Jeff Tweedy and Farrar.

Jeff Tweedy quit drinking entirely after meeting future wife Sue Miller, although he replaced this habit with smoking marijuana.

Jeff Tweedy was enraged that Farrar decided to break up the band without notifying him, and this led to a series of harsh verbal exchanges.

Farrar and Jeff Tweedy agreed to a final Uncle Tupelo tour, but the concerts were marred by the two not participating in each other's songs.

In 1994, Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco with John Stirratt, Max Johnston, and Ken Coomer.

Jeff Tweedy has been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, including Best Alternative Album for A Ghost Is Born.

Jeff Tweedy has participated in a number of side groups including Golden Smog and Loose Fur, published a book of poems, and released a DVD of solo performances.

Jeff Tweedy was originally influenced by punk and country music, but has later reflected more experimental themes in his music.

Also during this time, Jeff Tweedy quit smoking marijuana after a particularly bad experience with some cannabis brownies.

Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum invited Jeff Tweedy to join him in a supergroup named Golden Smog with Gary Louris and Marc Perlman of the Jayhawks, Kraig Johnson of Run Westy Run, and Noah Levy of The Honeydogs.

Under the pseudonym Scott Summit, Jeff Tweedy released Down by the Old Mainstream with Golden Smog in 1996.

Jeff Tweedy did not write music for many of the songs ahead of time, and welcomed unexpected sounds into the recording.

Jeff Tweedy was indifferent to the idea of working with Bragg, but Jay Bennett's enthusiasm about the idea convinced Jeff Tweedy to get the band involved in the project.

Jeff Tweedy received his first Grammy nomination when Mermaid Avenue was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999.

Jeff Tweedy was invited to play at Chicago's Noise Pop festival, and was told that he could collaborate with a musician of his choosing.

Jeff Tweedy chose Jim O'Rourke based on his fascination with O'Rourke's Bad Timing album.

The other band members of Wilco had written a number of songs for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but Jeff Tweedy was unsatisfied with them because he believed that the songs did not sound like the ones he played with Loose Fur.

Jeff Tweedy became such a fan of Kotche's playing style that he decided to dismiss Ken Coomer from the band in favor of Kotche.

Jeff Tweedy had strong feelings about how songs should be sequenced, which clashed with Jay Bennett's focus on the songs themselves.

Jeff Tweedy asked O'Rourke to remix several songs on the album that had been mixed by Bennett, which caused tensions within the band to escalate.

The album was completed in June 2001, and Jeff Tweedy was insistent that it was in its final form.

Jeff Tweedy fired Bennett around this time, believing that Wilco should only have one core member.

Seven days later, Jeff Tweedy decided that he would stream the entirety of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on Wilco's official website.

Scott McCaughey contacted Jeff Tweedy about recording an album together for a The Minus 5 release.

At night, McCaughey and Jeff Tweedy decided to begin recording songs as a way to calm down.

Jeff Tweedy has performed several solo tours, on which he typically plays acoustic music.

Jeff Tweedy recorded the song "Simple Twist of Fate" for the soundtrack to I'm Not There.

Jeff Tweedy has partnered with Mavis Staples on three acclaimed albums.

Jeff Tweedy played an array of instruments on these albums and wrote many of the songs.

Jeff Tweedy worked with the psychedelic-influenced garage rock group White Denim on their record Corsicana Lemonade, recording some songs at Wilco's Chicago studio The Loft.

Jeff Tweedy has appeared as a fictional singer-songwriter on 2014 episodes of Parks and Recreation and Portlandia.

The latter half of the set Jeff Tweedy plays solo, typically performing Wilco and Uncle Tupelo classics.

In June 2017 Jeff Tweedy released a solo acoustic album of eleven songs spanning his career from Wilco, Loose Fur, and Golden Smog titled Together at Last.

In November 2018 Jeff Tweedy released a memoir titled Let's Go and his first solo album of new material, titled Warm.

Belleville crowds did not respond well to punk music, so while Jeff Tweedy was a member of The Primitives they played covers of country songs at much faster tempos.

Wilco's first album shared many musical similarities with the four previous Uncle Tupelo albums, but on Being There, Jeff Tweedy began introducing more experimental themes into his music.

One of the most influential albums for Jeff Tweedy was Bad Timing by Jim O'Rourke, which helped to inspire Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born.

Jeff Tweedy uses a 1957 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar, as well as a 1965 Fender Jazzmaster, at least three different Telecasters, an Epiphone Casino, a Rickenbacker 360, and a Gibson SG Standard.

Jeff Tweedy has been known to use a Breedlove 000 and even designed a limited edition 000 for Breedlove in 2007.

Jeff Tweedy has been prone to migraines throughout his entire life, forcing him to miss forty days of elementary school in one year.

Jeff Tweedy quit smoking the next year; John Stirratt claimed afterward that this significantly improved the focus of the band.

Jeff Tweedy is married to former talent agent Sue Miller and lives in the Irving Park area of Chicago.

Jeff Tweedy first met Miller when he was trying to get Uncle Tupelo booked at Cubby Bear, where Miller worked.

Miller and Jeff Tweedy began dating in 1991 and they were married on August 9,1995.

Jeff Tweedy's wife is Jewish, and their sons both had Bar Mitzvah ceremonies.